[Bf-committers] Bf-committers Digest, Vol 955, Issue 1 (Bundled Addons vs Addon Repositories)

[Ryan Inch]

I agree with what you've said here and think it's very well worded. 
However, I think I should point out that it is somewhat idealized and 
that the reality is slightly different.

 > * Without needing anything explained, users intuitively understand that
 > a bundled addon has been tested for compatibility, reviewed for
 > security, and included for its functionality.

After their initial review, add-ons are left almost entirely to their 
own devices, and to my knowledge, there is no regular inspection to 
ensure that add-ons remain secure and do not fall prey to security bugs.

 > * Bundling addons bring the best addon developers and core developers
 > closer together. They will communicate together more leading up to a new
 > Blender release, since both desire to the addon to work great out of the
 > box

As mentioned above, add-ons mostly just do their own thing and there is 
little communication between the add-on developers and core developers.  
As to them both desiring the add-on to work great out of the box, in 
reality, this is not necessarily the case.  For example, there was a bug 
that affected my add-on that was identified and fixed in master just 
before one of the releases, but that fix was not ported to the release 
branch and by that time I was unable to work around it, so my add-on was 
released broken. https://developer.blender.org/T67577

On 2021-06-21 06:00 AM, bf-committers-request at blender.org wrote:
> Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2021 15:58:10 -0400 From: 
> blender.mailbag at creativegraphicsolutions.biz To: 
> bf-committers at blender.org Subject: Re: [Bf-committers] Bf-committers 
> Digest, Vol 955, Issue 1 (Bundled Addons vs Addon Repositories) 
> Message-ID: 
> <7d18a443-ccb7-bb11-dc6a-b29fef42c16e at creativegraphicsolutions.biz> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Hello Everyone, 
> I've been following the discussion on Bundled Addons vs Repositories. 
> I agree with Ryan Inch and the sentiment that bundled add-ons are 
> Blender's List of Favorite Add-ons. I think the current bundling of 
> select addons is best for users, blender developers, and addon 
> developers. FOR USERS * Without needing anything explained, users 
> intuitively understand that a bundled addon has been tested for 
> compatibility, reviewed for security, and included for its 
> functionality. * They only have to click a checkbox to activate or 
> disable it. * The user need not concern themselves with looking up 
> reviews for usefulness or compatibility. * As for newbie's, they 
> already have enough to think about just learning Blender. A tutorial 
> that says "go to the addons panel and click this checkbox" is as 
> simple as you can get. FOR BLENDER DEVELOPERS * The informal way of 
> bundling the most well crafted addons allows core developers to focus 
> on making Blender useful. * It encourages wider contribution to 
> Blender functionality through addons, which core developers may at 
> some point integrate into the central codebase when it makes sense to 
> do so. * I doesn't burden them with the additional task of maintaining 
> a comprehensive directory, where every addon and update (even those of 
> limited use) must be reviewed for security and compatibility. FOR 
> ADDON DEVELOPERS * Bundling addons bring the best addon developers and 
> core developers closer together. They will communicate together more 
> leading up to a new Blender release, since both desire to the addon to 
> work great out of the box, and more people supporting Blender 
> development is always a good thing. * An Addon developer and core 
> developer might sometimes be the same person. * If the Blender 
> Foundation ever needs to make a plugin themselves, they'll definitely 
> want to bundle it. Regards, Matthew Shockey 
> www.Behance.net/MatthewShockey www.LinkedIn.com/in/Matthew-Shockey 
> www.CreativeGraphic.Biz "Design, Web, and Print" 351 Frank Price Blvd, 
> Clinton TN 37716 Phone 865-963-8409